Thermal unit



Jan 23, 1940- E. s. C'ORNELL, JR 2,138,176

* THERMAL UNIT Filed May 5l, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l: :1:12. Z4 57 15C '5 o m Y n i l5 l 'OOOOOOOOOOCDOOOOOO l Jan. 23, 1940- E. s. CORNELL, .n`V

THERMAL UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filedl May 3l, 1935 INVENToR ward S Cor l, Jr: BY

ArroRNEY Patented Jan. 23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THERMAL UNIT Application May 31, 1935, Serial No. 24,283

1 Claim.

'Ihe present invention relates to an improved unit comprising a casing for enclosing and supporting a radiator unit the facial area of which is less than the facial-area of the casing, and a l'. fan and air motor or other fan-actuating means, for projecting air in thermal exchange relation with the thermal surfaces of the thermal mem- `ber and/or for re-circulating air of the room or other space served by the stated combined thermal unit.

More specifically, my improved thermal unit comprises an open front provided with a preferably removable grill, a thermal member formed of sets of channels suitably spaced from one another for affording the flow of a thermal fluid, the exposed faces of such channel being disposed in suitable relationship with Vthe openings of the grill,'a motor, preferably of air propulsion type,.

and a fan mounted directly or in other driven relationship with the shaft of the motor, such fan being disposed in air projecting relationship with the exposed faces of the channels of the thermal member, and common means for unitarily mounting the stated instrumentalities within the casing g5 and in the stated relationship to one another.

Embodiments of my invention are especially adapted to be disposed within recesses in a wall of a room or other space served bythe thermal unit, the grill being arranged to be substantially flush with the exposed face of the wall and constructed to conceal the clearances between the side and end walls of the casing and the material defining the recess in the wall, the piping connecting the. thermal unit with the thermal source and the piping for supplying compressed or other pressure differential air extending within and thus concealed by the material constituting the wall.

Further features and objects of the inventionV o will be more fully understood from the following detail description and the accompanying `drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig.`1, the grill having been removed and other parts omitted for the purpose of bringing to view otherwise hidden parts. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on line 50 3,-3 of Fig. 1, on a somewhat enlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectional v iew of Fig. 1, taken on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview` of thepreferred form of casing illustrated in the preceding 55 figures. onfthe scale of Figs. l and 2. y'

(C1. 2st-137i Fig. 6 is a front elevation of Fig. 5, on a reduced scale, showing the positioning of the air motor and fan.

Fig. 'l is a front'elevation of the thermal member, together with an exploded view of its joint 6 fittings.

Referring to the drawings, the casing I0 is shown having its front edges Il, I2, I3, Il, disposed in a substantially vertical plane, defining the front opening of the casing. The side and 10 end walls of the casing, Ila, I2a., Isa, Ila., extend at the front portion of the casing substantially rectilinearly and -substantially normal to the respective front edges Il, I2, I3, and Il, but at a locationrearwardly of the space occupied by the thermal member, i. e., heat exchanger I5; and as appears more fully hereinafter, the side and end walls, see IIb, I2b, I3b, Hb, extend arcuately on opposite sides toward one another and merge with the rear wall I6 of the casing.

The thermal member may be constructed as preferred, the essentials comprising, inter alia,

that its front face I5a has a facial area less than that of the front opening of the casing Il) and an outline conforming to, butas above pointed out less in dimension than, the outline of the front opening of the casing, whereby there is provided at the lateral sides of the thermal member and the respective side and end portions I Ia, I2a, Ila, and Ila of the casing, channels, see Il, I8, I3 and 20 for the inow of air toward and to the fan.

Coacting with such thermal member and the air flow effecting and projecting means, I provide a front plate or grill 2|, equipped with perforations corresponding to and defining cooperatively with the outline of any particular thermal member I5 and the stated walls of the .casing I0 the stated paths of air inow Il, I8, IS and 20, such front plate or grill 2l further having the 0 central perforations 22 providing and defining the Y paths of outiiow of the air projected by the fan, said paths of iiow being referred to more fully hereinafter. Such flow of air outwardly of the casing is in thermal exchange relation with 'the heating surfaces of the thermal member I5.

Such front plate or grill' 2l serves ,also to substantially conceal the stated parts disposed within the interior of the casing II). Such front plate 2l may be positioned in any suitable manner, conveniently by means of set screws,l see 2l, the tapped ends of which are received within threaded openings of thelugs 24 orA equivalent carried by. or at the front edges of thecasins I0.

advantageously, such from plate or grin 2| y serves also to conceal the clearances between the side' and end walls of the casing. Ill and the roughing-out opening made within the partition, wall or the like within which the assembly is installed.

- The air projecting means is shown comprising a fan 25,` or equivalent, positioned to project air in substantial parallelism with respect to the rectilinear portions IIa, |2a, |3a, I4a of the side and end Walls of the casing I and in substantial alignment with the channels -Ia intervening between the exposed faces of the thermal member I5, the direction of air ilow of which is indicated by the applied arrows, thence through the central perforations 22, shown in the form of horizontally extending slots, in the front plate or grill 2|. For a type of fan 25 as indicated in the drawings, such fan may be directly mounted upon the shaft 26 of the motor 21, which may be of any suitable type.

Such motor 21 in fulfillment of the objects and purposes set forth in my copending application Ser. #687.376, led August 29, 1933, entitled Air conditioned heating and cooling system, now U. S. Patent No. 2,038,347, patented April 21, 1936, is an air motor,'actuated by compressed air, connected by suitable piping, see inow pipe 26 .equipped with a valve 29, controlled by its setting member 29a, in turn communicating `with the pipe 30 leading to the intake of the air motor 21.

Such air motor advantageously has the constructionl described'v and claimed in my U. S. Patents #1,926,527, entitled Suction driven prime mover, i

granted September l2, 1933, and #1,926,528, entitled Air motor, granted September l2, 1933, embodying inter alia a rotor 3| of suitable construction. The outtake of my air motor is indicated at 32, see Figs. 2 and 6, the air discharged therefrom merging with the re-circulated air of the room or other space served by the unit, the paths of flow of which are set forth hereinabove, and indicated in the drawings by the applied arrows.

Preferably, as also shown' in the drawings, the air motor 21 and fan 25 are assembled as a unit,

and for convenience, accuracy and maintenance.

of position, I providein association with the casing Ill, namely on the inner face of its rear wall I6 the brackets 33, 34, arranged verticallyone above the other and suitably secured, as by spot welding or equivalent, to the inner face of the rear wall I6. Associated with each bracket 33 I 'further provide suitable arms 35, 36 secured to and projectingfrom the vertically extending portions of the brackets 33, 34, respectively, the outer ends of such arms 35, 36 being threaded or equivalent; each bracket 33, 34, at its outer end is provided with a slot 33a. 34a, or equivalent, open at its terminus, i. e., front, the purposes of which will appear. Such slots 33a, 34a, are located in substantial vertical alignment with one another and also in substantial vertical alignment with the 4slot IIc in the lower end wall I I'a and the slot I3c in the upper end wall |3a. l

As above indicated, the thermal-member I5 is of any suitable construction, and usually includes upper and lower header parts I5b, |5c, provided respectively with the ports |5d, |5e, adapted to be connected by nipples, unions 31, 38 or equivalent with piping for the supply to and discharge from o'f the thermal fluid supplied from an individual or central heating and/or cooling device.

The stated fan 25 and air motor 21 or equivalent and the stated thermal member lli and their stated or equivalent appurtenant parts are now assembled accurately and maintained in position, as will now appear:

The combined fan 25 and air motor 21 assembly is placed with the rear wall of the air motor 21 in facial engagement with the inner face of the rear wall I6 of the casing I0, the circular or other arcuate side wall of the housing ofthe air motor 21 being received within and retained by the arcuate edges 33o and 34h of the respective brackets 33, 34, and clamped in position by the angle plates 39, 40, or equivalent, the latterbeing provided with lsuitable openings through which the ends of the arms 35, 36 are passed, and the assembly thus positioned as a unit as predeter- -mined and maintained as a unit in position by nuts 4I, 42, respectively, or equivalent, threading with the threading ends of the arms 35, 36.

The nipples |5d, |56, are respectively passed into the open ended slots 33a, 34a of the respective brackets 33, 34 and secured in position by locking nuts 43, 44, and the unions 31, 38 or equivalent are received within the open-ended slots IIC, I3c of the end walls of the casing I0, thus conveniently and accurately installing and maintaining in position the stated parts with respect to the casing.

The opening 45, orequivalent, shown in the bottom end wall portion IIa, serves to receive the piping 28 for the supply of air for actuating the motor 21; pursuant to my air conditioned thermal system set forth in my aforesaid application Serial No. 687,376, such air is conditioned and lcompressed to proper pressure.

The front plate or grill 2I is then installed in position by set screws 23,'or equivalent, and the finger piece 29a of the control valve 29 is positioned on its operating stem.

From the above, it appears that the brackets 33, 34, assembled as above stated or equivalently in predetermined relation to the' walls of the housing I0, i. e. by .Welding or integral material of the brackets 33, 34, or equivalent, together with predetermined dimensioning and locations of the assembly parts, i. e. slots 33a, 34a, contoured faces 33h, 34h, arms 35, 36, or equivalent, further the predetermined dimensions and positions of the assembly slots IIc, I3, or equivalent of the housing I0, and the correlated contour and dimensions of the parts assembled with the aforesaid assembly accuracy and permanency of assembly arey assured.

As is set forth in my aforesaid patent application, Serial No. 687,376, now U. S. Patent No.

2,038,347, patented April 21,1936, entitled Air.

conditioned heating and cooling system, my thermal system is applicable for cooling a room or other space served individually by a thermal unit of the system, as we ll as for heating the same; also, as indicated above, my thermal unit may be supplied with a thermal uid individually by a suitable source of thermal uid or. a group of thermal units may be respectively supplied with thermal uid from a central source of thermal uid.

From my discoveries of field installations of my invention, the outer conguration of the thermal member bears a definite relation to the conguration of the open front of the casing, in the attainment of eil'iciency of `exchange of thermal energy, i. e., B. t. u.s and the energy value of the compressed air supplied to the air motor in the actuation of the fan for projecting' air through other space served by the thermal unit. In general, optimum results are obtained by forming the outer configuration of the thermal member symmetrical with the configuration of the open front of the casing, or vice versa, and by positioning the thermal member within and in symmetrical relationship with the open front of the casing, whereby as indicated by the arrows applied in the drawings', see Figs. 3 and 4 in particular, inow of air takes place through the passages afforded between the outer configuration of the thermal member and the walls defining the open front of the casing and completely about the thermal member, the outfiow of air taking place through the heating passages through the reticulated thermal member, the fan being disposed posteriorly of the thermal member and circumscribing a path in substantially symmetrical relation to the heating passages of the reticulated thermal member.

My discoveries have also shown, so far as has been verified, that efficiency is enhanced by the employment of a thermal member having fiat faces about its outer configuration in combination with fiat, i. e., rectilineariy extending wall portions defining the open front of the casing, said rectilinear wall portions posteriorly of the thermal member being arcuate and preferably uniformly arcuate, the stated arcuate portions of the respective side-end and walls of the casing merging in a substantially flat, i. e. rectilinear rear wall of the casing.

The front plate or grill is perforated to eect front opening of the casing thereby providing.

channels for the inow of air and a motor-driven fan for enforcing a circulation of air into heat exchange contact with said heat exchanger,

means wholly supported by said rear closure to afford denite positioning and positive securement of said heat exchanger and said fan motor, said means including brackets having spaced arms secured to said rear closure and arranged mutually to cradle said fan motor indefinite position on said rear closure, clamping means arranged to cooperate with said arms in holding said fan motor against said rear closure, a spaced, forwardly projecting arm integral with each of said first-mentioned arms, arranged in combination to embrace said heat exchanger, and locking means arranged to secure the positioning of said heat exchanger with respect to said forwardly projecting arms and in its channel-forming position with relation to the casing.

EDWARD S. JR. 

